Altes raised the staff in his hand and released holy power.
After the holy power fell on Sophie, he clearly sensed that her strength had improved considerably compared to before.
“Sophie, have you reached the Transcendent tier?”
“Yes, Your Holiness,” Sophie replied. “After the battle on the Yamar River ended, the bottleneck that had been hindering my further progress has now been broken through. Perhaps it was that life-and-death battle that gave me many insights.”
Sophie’s current strength was at Diamond-rank, only one step away from the Transcendent tier.
Although there was only a small rank difference between Diamond-rank and Transcendent tier, crossing it meant a qualitative leap.
Those below the Transcendent tier belonged to the mortal level. Only upon reaching the Transcendent tier did one truly step into the realm of the world’s true powerhouses.
“Mm, not bad.”
Altes felt some excitement in his heart, but he maintained a calm exterior.
In her previous life, the Silver Sword Princess had been at the Legendary tier, even more powerful than Transcendent. Legendary-tier strength on the Theia Continent already stood at the pinnacle of the races.
He believed that with Sophie’s current talent, as long as the Holy Land poured in sufficient resources, she could definitely reach Legendary tier. Moreover, with Sylvia’s bloodline enhancement, Sophie would absolutely become even stronger than in her previous life.
The Silver Sword Princess Selina, to be precise, hadn’t been the product of a single faction but the result of cultivation by multiple human forces.
But Sophie’s situation was different. She had been nurtured by the Holy Land. Even the Saint Luo Empire’s imperial family didn’t know that the former Silver Sword Princess had reincarnated.
In time, Sophie would become the Holy Land’s strongest force, belonging to them alone.
No matter what methods were used, they had to keep Sophie firmly under the Holy Land’s control.
“Sophie, we all see your hard work. Even though you lost to Demon King Ville for now, there’s no need to worry. Victory and defeat are only temporary. Evil cannot triumph over good. You will definitely defeat him in the future.”
“All right.”
“However, Via’s situation isn’t looking so good.” Altes skillfully shifted the topic to Via.
“Via… what will happen to her?”
“Via is Sylvia’s daughter and a saintess candidate of our Holy Land. Even if she has suffered some unfair treatment in the past, that is no reason for her to side with the demonkin. Doing so would make her a heretic!”
“Heretics have no place in this world! We clergy of the Holy Land absolutely cannot tolerate even one.” Altes’s voice grew stern.
Via, she… Sophie opened her mouth but stopped herself.
“Very good.”
Altes was quite satisfied with the pressure he had just applied. He deliberately let out a long sigh and put on an expression of regret.
“Ah, I feel great pain over Via’s situation. Sophie, Sylvia clearly entrusted me to take good care of you two sisters. I never wanted something like this to happen either.”
“Via… a heretic…”
“However, if there’s still room for redemption, then the situation can be viewed differently.”
“Your Holiness, what do you mean?” Sophie asked, somewhat puzzled.
“Sophie, if you can defeat Demon King Ville and kill him, then bring Via back from the demonkin side, we can try to see if she can be guided back from the wrong path onto the right one.”
“You mean…?”
“I can use my influence to suppress all information about Via. The public won’t know she sided with the demonkin. That way, you’ll have a chance to save her, won’t you?”
Altes’s meaning was already very clear.
As long as Sophie was willing to give everything for the Holy Land and fight the demonkin, the Holy Land could overlook Via’s mistakes.
For Sophie, this was an enormous act of grace.
“Your Holiness, are you serious?”
“Of course.” The Pope nodded, revealing a kindly smile full of benevolence. “Our Holy Land can absolutely give a lost fellow believer one chance at redemption.”
“Thank you, Your Holiness.”
Sophie bowed to the Pope in gratitude.
“I hope you can first suppress the news from the Yamar River.”
“Mm.”
Even if Sophie hadn’t said it, Altes would not have publicized the events on the Yamar River.
The Silver Sword Princess losing to Demon King Ville would definitely cause public panic. Any report could only contain news beneficial to humanity. Anything unfavorable must be kept silent.
“Sophie, remember this: Demon King Ville abducted your sister as revenge against the saintess bloodline. In his previous life, he also destroyed Hes Town.”
“Your Holiness, in my previous life I regarded Hes Town as my hometown. The people in the orphanage were family to me,” Sophie raised her head. “The one who destroyed Hes Town was Demon King Ville, correct?”
“Of course. He commanded the demonkin army to attack Hes Town and slaughter everyone in the orphanage. Both our Holy Land and the Saint Luo Empire can confirm it was his doing.”
“I understand.”
“Remember, you and he have a blood feud that cannot coexist under the same sky. If you want to send the Demon King to hell and comfort the souls of your comrades who died in Hes Town, that is the mission you carry.” Altes emphasized to Sophie. “To achieve this, you must kill him and—”
Sophie left the sanctuary.
When Ellis saw her, she looked slightly surprised. She noticed raw anger openly displayed on the face of Sylvia’s heir.
“Sophie, what happened? Did His Holiness say something to you?”
“That damn Demon King Ville… I will definitely… kill him.”
Sophie’s body trembled slightly. She nearly bit through her lip. Crimson flames seemed ready to burst from her eyes.
Such intense emotional fluctuation was quite rare for her.
“In his previous life he was full of lies, invading our human world. After failing once, he still refused to give up and wanted to stage a comeback. He even used despicable means to harm my sister…”
“You… keeping your hatred for the demonkin is a good thing, but you should still control your emotions.” Ellis patted Sophie’s shoulder. “If you have any difficulties, you can talk to me about them.”
“Mm, thank you, Ellis. I’ll do that later. You’ve helped me many times before. I’m sorry for my attitude toward you earlier.”
Sophie gave Ellis a somewhat weary smile.
“Thank you, Ellis. Talking with you made me feel much lighter.”
Sophie bid Ellis farewell.
“Mm, see you later. Call me if you need anything.”
Ellis also said goodbye to Sophie.
Sophie turned and walked into the shadows. The expression on her face completely changed, as if everything just now had been deliberately shown to Ellis. She recalled every detail of her conversation with the Pope inside the sanctuary, and her gaze deepened.
Altes, are you lying to me?
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